Monday, March 16, 2020

Social Distancing

What strange times we are living in. My personal opinion is that everyone is over-reacting, but I am just trying to keep my head down and go with the flow. Or the stop, as it were.

I did go to the grocery store tonight for the first time in a good while, (more out of curiosity than anything) although we were out of eggs. Guess what? So was Wal-mart. I do feel grateful that Jon has a job that doesn't depend on tips or sales, and that we already have rice, bread, canned beans, and toilet paper at home. (The store was out of all those items as well.) I feel grateful that I have a mom who cooked delicious and healthy meals and taught be how to as well. A mom who taught me how to stock a pantry, how to plan ahead, and how to feed a crowd.

We just started a week of Spring Break, but my best guess would be that we will be off school for a couple weeks minimum. Today I told my kids that we have never been a home-school family before but that were going to try and start. They were actually great sports about it and we all worked together with minimal complaining. It probably helped that we had a few friends over for dinner and a movie, so they at least had something to look forward to. (We didn't keep it less than 20, but don't tell anyone. Ha)

I just keep thinking about families living on the edge, though. What about single moms that are going to have to stay home with their kids and forgo a pay check? What about families that don't have the first clue how to home-school? What about families that eat out 5 times a week and don't cook? Or families that don't have money for extra toilet paper and rice? What about people who have experienced trauma or neglect and literally lack the brain capacity for planning ahead?

I do feel grateful because we have money in the bank, food in the house, a husband who can work, brains that can flexibly plan, and working immune systems. I have to remember that having these advantages is probably one of the reasons why I think everyone is over-reacting.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks. In the meantime, if you need tp, some homemade cookies, or are wondering what to do with your elementary kids, come on over. We are happy to share. 

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